The ‘tease’
On 27 November 2023, Shoosmiths wrote to COPA and the Developers (a) to reveal the existence of the White Paper LaTeX Files, said for the first time to be stored on Overleaf, (b) to seek to impose stringent limitations on their disclosure and (c) asking to adjourn the trial {AB/2/2}.
Neither COPA nor the Developers were prepared to accede to the proposals made by Dr Wright and so, on 1 December 2023, an application was made by Dr Wright for permission to rely on the so-called White Paper LaTeX Files (and other documents), for an adjournment of the trial and for revised directions to that adjourned trial. I heard and determined that application at the PTR.
Field1 and Wright6 repeated and amplified claims Shoosmiths had made (on instructions) in their 27 November 2023 letter. It was said that (and note that all references to Field1 were confirmed in Wright6 at [4]):
Prior non-disclosure: documents on Dr Wright’s Overleaf account had not previously been reviewed for disclosure by Ontier because they were considered to fall outside the date ranges for searches specified in the DRD {Field1 [19.2.3-19.2.4] {E/24/7} & Shoosmiths’ letter at [15]} and the LaTeX code on Overleaf did not “have a metadata date”. That evidence was confirmed at {Wright6 [4] {E/21/3}}.
Relevant Overleaf folder: the only relevant or potentially relevant material hosted on the Overleaf account was in a folder entitled ‘Bitcoin’, Field1 [19.2.5] {E/24/8} (The other material was said to relate to Dr Wright’s academic and personal interests post-dating 2020). That evidence was confirmed at Wright6 [4] {E/21/3}.
Exact replica: the White Paper LaTeX Files compiled into an “exact replica” of the Bitcoin White Paper, Field1 [48],{E/24/16}. The words “materially identical” were used at Field1 [19.2.6] {E/24/8}. At Field 1 [30] {E/24/10} it was indicated that the code for the images matched “the exact parameters of the images in the White Paper”. That evidence was confirmed at Wright6 [4] {E/21/3}.
Unique position: at Field1 [27] {E/24/10} it was said that the LaTeX code uniquely coded for the Bitcoin White Paper and a claim for swingeing confidentiality restrictions was made based on their unique nature (Field1 [48] {E/24/16}, confirmed at Wright6 [4] {E/21/3}).
Digital watermark: it was suggested (at Field1 [29] {E/24/10}/Wright6 [4] {E/21/3}) that the White Paper LaTeX Files used “non-standard formatting (for example, coding for differences in the size of spaces between words) in effect as a form of digital watermark”.